Part 6 - Sri Sankara Vijayam

Thanks to my spiritual Friend Subramanian Garu for sharing this information.

Sankara returned from Mahishmati.This time, apart from Padmapada,Sureswarar and Sarasavani also accompanied him.Back to Kasi,and back to Ganga.

He composed the famous Gangashtakam here.

The hymn, though titled as Ashtakam, runs to 13 stanzas.There are some internal evidences, while Sankara speaks about his illness.His illness is somewhat due to his tiredness.He also speaks of sins, which may refer to his entering into King Amaruka's body,to learn about erotica to win the debate with Ubhayabharati.

In Kasi, Sankara met one gentleman under a tree.As he came near him, he was glad to find that he is none other than his boy-hood friend of Kaladi, Vishnu.Vishnu was in tears and he held Sankara's feet tightly and prostrated and wept inconsolably.Vishnu then told that he is not happy with all his Vedic learning and he has come to Kasi hoping to meet Sankara.Sankara was happy to meet him and gave him Atma Jnana Upadesa, and also initiated him to sannyasa.He gave him the diksha name of Sukacharya.Sukacharya is not only one of the four disciples of Sankara, but he is held in high esteem as equivalent to any of them.

Sankara then came to south of Vindhyas and reached Sri Sailam.He had a darshan of Mallikarjuna Siva.He went into raptures and had a darshan of Mallikarjuna Siva, as Siva-Sakti tattva, theunion of matter and energy. This vision is called Hara-Gowri Sampargam.In Sri Sailam, he sang his famous Sri Sivananada Lahari.

Sri Sivanananda Lahari is a composition on bhakti, in excellent poetry.Unlike Sri Soundarya Lahari, there are no mantras here,pure melting devotion only.Here he speaks about Saint Kannappa and other devotees of Siva.

The composition starts with prayer to both Siva and Sakti.They are concorporate.

Sri Sailam had a lot of Sakta-upasakas.Sankara taught them the upasana of Brahman which is nothing but Siva-Sakti as one principle and brought them to the Atma Jnana upasana of experiencing the Self within.

Sankara travelled from Sri Sailam and came to the northern Karnataka.Here, there were a lot of Kapalikas, the violent worshippers of Kala Bairava and this sub-sect was called Maha Bairava Marga.Sudhanva was the local chieftain here and he was under the grips of one Grahasa, who was the head of Kapalika monks here.They were following the vamachara-marga, the left handed worship of treating women as Sakti and copulating with them, as the worship of Siva.The chief Grahasa was a renowned Ugra-bairava known for his anger and ferociousness.He was 100 years old!The sect was addicted to drinking liquor heavily and eating meat.Grahasa wanted to kill Sankara.

Ugra Bairava came to Sankara and started debtate with him regarding sublimity of his Maha Bairva Marga.Sankara advised him that only Atma Dyanam, meditating on the formless Self is a sure way to liberation and praying to Bairava and others would take one only to their respective worlds where there would again only be worship in form and no liberation.Even though Ugra Bairava had been convinced personally, he did not want to show it up to Sankara.He stayed with Sankara for some days and one day he said to him:I shall take your head and offer it to Maha Bairava and go to Siva-loka.I am not restful here.

Sankara smiled at him and said:Alright, you tell me a day, when I have to offer my head in sacrifice.I shall be ready under a tree that night and you can cut my head with sword.Ugra Bairava was pleased with this turn of events and fixed the next new moon day for the sacrifice.

On that night, when everyone was sleeping, Sankara went out of his place and stayed under a peepul tree.At midnight, the kapalikas came and took Sankara with them.They went to a forsaken hill and the pujas to Bairava started in all noise.They garlanded Sankara and placed him on the sacrificial stone.They sang high sounding songs in praise of Mahabairava and Ugra Bairava was about to swish his sword.Padmapada who was sleeping in the residence, suddenly became ferocious and rushed out to the hill to see this orgy taking place.He moved swiftly to Ugra Bairava and killed him with his own sword.Padmapada could not be calmed.

Sankara saw him as Narasimha Himself.He immediately sung his Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Karavalamba Stotram, asking Narasimha togive His hand to help the poor Padmapada.This song starts as - Srimad bayonidhi nihedhana chakrapane!....

Soon Sankara asked Padmapada to write commentary on Sri Narasimha poorvadha and uttaradha Upanishads.These are later Upanishads coming under the 108 Upanishads, which are mostly forms of worship.After this, Padmapada had also been calmed down.Sankara then composed the famous Kala-bairava-ashtakam on Siva Kalabairava.This starts as-- Devaraja sevyamana-paavananghri pankajam..... Ugra Bairava also got deliverence with this song.

Sankara came then to Harihar in northern Karnataka, where Siva is in the form of Sankara Narayana.In Harihar, Sankara met Sri Neelkanta Dishitar (not the one who is related to the famous Appayya Deekshitar) and went through Neelakanta's commentary on Brahma Sutram on the basis of Saiva Siddhantam.He advised Neelakanta how his commentary is deficient and wanted him to adopt advaita approach to understand Brahma Sutram.

From here, Sankara came to Gokarnam and then to Kollur,where there is famous Mookambika temple.

In Kollur, Mookambika temple, Sankara worshipped to the goddess and then stayed for some days there.

He advised the worshippers of gods:"The path of devotion or upasana is quite noble.But upasana alone will not confer liberation.Upasana should be the stepping stone for atma vichara, self- enquiry.Upasana is helpful to the extent of giving purification of mind, chitta-suddhi.But chitta-suddhi should be taken to the logical end of self enquiry and self realization.I have no quarrel if you call Devi as Brahman or Siva as Brahman.In fact, Siva is called Satyo-jathan, one who confers the Truth in a trice. But one has to go past Upasana to end up in Self realization. However much, one knows how to play a drum, will not confer him the title that he is a good veena-player.The drumming practice helps to learn veena since the under-lying rhythm is same.But the first will not automatically confer the second."

Upasana is manifold.This multiplicity gives rise to infights,saying that Devi Upasana is better than Vishnu Upasana etc.,Brahman-upasana is sublime.It has not fight with anybody,because everything is a form of Brahman.

From Kollur, Sankara came again to Gokaranam and meditated in the temple for sometime.

Different Sankara biographies say differently about Sankara's ascension to the Sarvajna Peetam, the Seat of All Knowledge.

There are three versions:

That Sankara ascended the Seat in Kollur, Mookambika Temple.
That Sankara ascended the Seat in Sri Nagar, Kashmir in Sarada Temple.
That Sankara ascended the Seat in Kamakshi Temple, Kanchipuram.

But the majority view is that he ascended the Seat in Sri Nagar, Kashmir, at Sarada Temple.

Sources:

1) http://www.arunachala-ramana.org/forum/index.php?board=10.100
2) http://www.celextel.org/adisankara/gangashtakamsankara.html
3) http://www.celextel.org/adisankara/shivanandalahari.html